The Best AI Video Generators for 2026

Artlist offers pretty much the perfect package for all creative endeavors. It's as if a company has finally listened to my prayers and included everything I had asked for: The best video generators, newest AI image gen and most advanced editing features (including Nano Banana), sound effects, AI voiceovers, templates and even colour grading all in one tool. SMEs can save significantly by combining everything in one tool, but their modular pricing system also allows for smaller packages. Let's also not forget about the time and computer storage required for downloading and uploading all the bits and pieces. I think tools like Artlist are the future. I never understood why I Runway and co. didn't add a proper video editing tool to their software right away. So here I go!

Key features:
AI Video Generator, AI Image Generator, Veo3, Nano Banana, Sora 2, Sound Effects, Text-to-Speech, AI Voiceover, +21 languages, 30+ Voices, Exclusive Studio Voices, Voice Library, Lifelike Voices, AI Image & Video Generator, Premium LUTs, Over 1M Footage Clips

Overall I really love Sora 2! It was able to generate videos I couldn't create before, for example of a breakdancing nun. All other tools (including Veo 3) got confused with the leg movements, no matter how much I changed my prompt. It's not 100% perfect, but if you remember how Sora 1 was promised to us and then couldn't deliver: This time it's different. It's great at depicting human emotion, creating beautiful frames, adding details and generally it follows prompts quite well. It will by default add camera movements and audio speech, so if you don't want that, you should specify it in your prompt. I've just compared Veo 3 with Sora 2 in a separate blog, you'll find much more details there, but for now I couldn't find a clear winner. Both have their strenghts and if you want to be able to access both, it's easiest to go with Artlist, which is also the platform I tested Sora 2 on.

Key Features:
Text-to-Video Generation, Image-to-Video, Cameo / Real-World Likeness Insertion, Controllability & Multi-Shot, Physical Realism & World Dynamics, Stylistic Versatility, Synchronized Audio & Dialogue, Motion Accuracy, Object Behavior, Expanded Stylistic Range

Ok Google, I see how you play it! The first video generator to add audio, pretty cool. Even if not perfect, but it wouldn't be fair to expect that I suppose. In my first try the cyborg says something cyborg-ish I suppose, at least I don't get it. But the woman responds as prompted and sounds great. The visuals are good, so overall I like it. By the way, I've added in the video comparing all generators, just scroll up and watch it straight there.

Key Features:
Text to Video, Frames to Video, Video Extension, Camera Control, Scenebuilder, 1080p Upscaling, 4K Realism, Improved Prompt Adherence, Improved Creative Control, Sound Effects

It's pretty impressive what ElevenLabs has put together here. They basically put a huge range of video models into their platform: the newest of Veo, Sora, Kling, even LTX, Seedance, Wan and a few specials like OmniHuman or Veed Lipsync. On top they also have the Topaz Upscaler integrated, which is great because so far I always had to use an external tool for this. Credits costs are decent and if you need a voice generator, Elevenlabs is one of the top tools. I really like their dashboard, it's quite intuitive and it's awesome that you can edit video straight in the same platform in their Studio feature, although it takes a bit of time getting used to (therefore the deduction in points). The video generator also offers start and endframes, which is great for contolling the story and characters better (it's simply easier to generate an image, get everything right there and then make it move instead of both at once).

Kling O1 Video:I've tested the newest model Kling O1 Video over Artlist, simply because I have a subscription there and I think it's a great progress from 1.6, which I liked a lot already. The movements now are much more natural and the model followed my prompt closer, not adding unnecessary other stuff. Well, except for that one extra arm once she lands on the book, lol. But given that the mission was quite complex and this really is the first generation, this is damn good!

Kling 1.6: Oh I laughed so hard about my first generation with the start to end frame function. I had uploaded two screenshot of myself in an online meeting, just to see what the tool would make me do. It added a very funny lip sync, which made me look as if I am singing in the video. I tested this feature some more and I am quite impressed by Kling 1.6. I also love that this tool allows 15 different camera movements or perspectives, which is what has given me the most headaches recently with video generation. I feel like they are focusing a lot on community building, similar to midjourney for image gen. Overall this is the top runner for me at the moment.

Key Features:
Text to Video, Image to Video, Superior Video Realism, Dynamic Lighting and Shadows, Multi-Style Support, Faster Rendering Speeds, Enhanced Prompt Adherence, Dynamic Visuals, Video Length Support, Improved Camera Movements, Yearbook Effect, Start & End Frames

Flux is a solid video generator and very much in the constant race for the number one tool. And because I really really like the generated videos, I placed it in the middle. But there are just a few problems with it: It tends to have issues fetching internal data during the generation process (which can take quite some time). Also, their payment processing is problematic: the first time I tried to make a payment it seemed like it didn't go through. So I tried to book it again and saw that now I had paid double. After I had cancelled both subscriptions, they falsely deducted money from me still. Also credits will expire within a month, why? So I had to deduct some points because of these issues, but the generations are usually nice.

Key Features:
Text-to-Video & Image-to-Video, Video Durations, Custom Animation Styles, Quality Settings & Resolution Choices, Specialized AI Video Effects, Prompt-Controlled Creativity, Seamless Transitions, Motion Realism, Private Video History, Fast Queues

If you think now: but Freepik doesn't have its own model, why did you add them to this category? You are absolutely right. But it does combine all relevant models and makes the creation process so easy and fun that it absolutely made sense to add it. If there is something one tool can't do, you can simply create the frame with another tool. Also having such an amazing image generator with Flux AI in the same tool, makes Freepik especially fun to play around with. It even lets you test experimental models and take a look into where video GenAI is going. One downside I found was that the sound FX feature doesn't work properly yet.

Key Features:
Extensive Free Library, 4K and HD Resolution, Video Review Vectors, Illustrations, Mockup, 3D Models, Text to Video, Image to Video, Custom Character, Custom Styles, Voice Generator, Sound Effect Generator, AI-Generated Music, Lip Sync

Runway was the first tool I tested for creating a new video sequence based on a picture (image-to-video). As you can see in the video above, it wasn’t able to let the hands shake, but it’s only a question of time until this trailblazer manages to do so. Its motion brush feature is unique and I appreciate their generous offer of 105 seconds of free credit. And, I mean just look at the frame! So beautiful.

Key Features:
Motion Brush, Text to Video AI, Image to Video AI, Generate Images, Infinitely Expand Images, Reimagine Any Image, Train Custom Models, Erase Things from Videos, Slow Mo Any Video, Image to Video, Background Remover, Gen-3 Alpha, Complex Scene Changes, Cinematic Choices, Enhanced Fidelity, Act-1 (Animate Human Movements), Upscale to 4K, Act-One, Expand Video

Midjourney (pretty much the first famous image generator) has launched their video model and the quality is quite nice. It followed the prompt almost perfectly, except for that the protagonists are almost kissing, therefore I had to deduct a point for tool performance. Other than that I love the background, camera movement and style. Midjourney video, I see us having a lot of fun in the future together. But maybe don't let everything kiss just because a girl is involved, ok?

Key Features:
Turn Images into Videos, Motion Control Options, RAW Mode for Precision, Aspect-Ratio Based Output, Extendable Video Duration, Prompt-Driven Animation, Custom Settings Panel, Manual Video Scrubbing, Animate Your Own Uploads, Sticky Image Pinner

So far I only knew LTX Studio as a video editor tool with pretty cool storyboarding feature and the lightricks app for filters and effects.

Now testing their video generator, I had some pleasant and not so pleasant experiences. I really like that the tool will provide various versions for the same prompt right away, I can really see how they understand video folks. At this point there is not video generation without a start or end image, which is not an obstacle because it also has a Flux and Nano Banana integration for images.

The downside is that the motions of the protagonists in the videos are too erratic or senseless. I had set the motion intensity to medium, but still wish it were smoother. The other con is the audio, which only generates alien jibberish. I couldn't understand anything in any of the videos. So I recommend using LTX Studio without sound for now and to set motion intensity to low if it's not a high speed scene.
Otherwise it didn't fully follow my instructions, in my example prompt I wanted the milky way to move from side to side of the frame, instead the camera is moving in on the handshake (and the cyborg turns out to have human hands).

Lastly I should say that I think once the model gets better, that this will be an awesome tool, simply because LTX Studio understands its audience and already offers such a wide palette of features.

Key Features:
Text-to-Video AI Generation, AI Storyboard Generator, Character Consistency Maintenance, Keyframe Motion Control, Real-Time Collaboration

This is the logical next step for Adobe: add a video generator to their AI tool mix. To be fair I tested their Video Generator when it was still in Beta. It didn't blow me away but it's not bad either. I like that they different shot sizes, camera angles and motions. You can also add a start and endframe picture, to control the narrative. I expect adobe to improve their tool significantly in the next few month and become a serious contender for Runway, KlingAI and others.

Key Features:
Text-to-Video, AI-Generated Video Effects, Advanced Camera Controls, B-Roll Creation, Commercially Safe Model, IP-Friendly Outputs, Resolution Options, Aspect Ratio Support, Keyframe Frame Control, Special Effects Generation

I see what you are doing there, DomoAI! You are building the next all-in-one toolbox for video generation AND editing! I like it, and it's definitely the future. DomoAI has some nice features and is fun to play around with. You can even go for free generations if you don't mind waiting for a while. I haven't seen features like Screen Keying anywhere else yet, which is like an added green screen, so that characters can easily be isolated later in the editing process. I can clone my voice and even make my picture speak. However, I feel like the core product, video genAI, could have performed better. The cyborg from my usual prompt looks a bit immature and doesn't quite beat Runway or Kling AI yet. Otherwise, this is a solid tool with a wide range of features and a refreshing interface!

Key Features:
Video-to-Video Style Transfer, Image-to-Video Animation, Character Animation, AI Video Lip-Sync, Screen Keying / Background Removal, Media Upscaling, Text-to-Image & Text-to-Video, AI Image Style Transfer, Flexible Workflow Modes, Rich Template & Quick App Library

This tool for me doesn't really come up to the expectation and the huge hype around it. But it has a lot of potential. It scored the same as Pika Labs, but I prefer it because the generated video isn't just animation style, unlike Pika's. LumaAI is better at showing the requested movement, but it's not really good either. I have generated a few very weird-looking things with it. Imagine here an smiley with a tear for not letting me download those weird generations on the free plan so I can show you! We would have had a blast.

Key Features:
Text to Video AI, Image to Video AI, NeRF AI 3D Capture, 3D Textured Asset Generation, Unity Integration, Text-to-Video Conversion, High-Quality Video Output, Customizable Templates, Dream Machine, Guided Capture Mode, Luma AI Genie, NeRF Technology, Image Zip Upload, Interactive Scene Viewer, 3D Exports, Audio Generation

I like Hunyuan but I wouldn't say it massively sticks out among all other video generators. The most unique feature is that we can choose between 5 different perspectives, a feature only a few video generators have picked up on yet. Kling 1.6 offers 15 with movements. Also I didn't like that the free plan with its 1 credit doesn't allow testing the video generation, which costs 12 credits. This was the only tool that created an Asian lady shaking the cyborgs hand, no wonder, as the parent company Tencent Holdings is Chinese. Refreshing to see the ethnicity mix!

Key Features:
13B Parameters, High Quality Motion, MLLM Text Encoder, Open Source, Best-in-Class Performance, HD Resolution, Smooth Special Effects, Native Camera Cuts, Smart Prompt Builder, Promotional Content, Additional Camera Perspectives, 24 Frames per Second, Resolutions up to 1024×576 Pixels, Scene Control

After 2 animation-style videos, I prompted for a photo-realistic video, but Pika seems to be unable to do that. I feel like the lady is trying to mumble something, but her lips are not moving enough. Nice fact: Pika Labs is actually a non-profit organization and a community of AI enthusiasts. And was one of the first open source video generators. Pika, I wish I could show you a bit more love. Sorry!

Key Features:
Image to Video, Text to Video

Bytedance's (TikTok makers) video generator works ok. It didn't blew me off my socks, at least with this very simple prompt. The cyborg looks very immature and unnatural. But I will definitely keep an eye on it, assuming that the model will learn very quickly since TikTok has so many videos and with that a lot of training data, which should give it a headstart.

Key Features:
Dual Generation Modes, Flexible Duration Options, Quality Output, Motion Synthesis, Text-to-Video, Image-to-Video, Motion Handling, Instruction Following, Visual Outputs, Concurrency Support